#autism rights

[bumpytoad]

Some say that "special interest" isn't a good term, and that Autistics should just be considered to have interests like anyone else. I vehemently disagree with this. The term isn't just cutesy and patronizing. The term is true. When you have a special interest or special interests, these become part of you. They often can't be separated, and especially not by force or social pressure without causing severe and everlasting distress and trauma. Even if special interests do shift in the sense of changing with new encounters and being more fluid, it's still fundamentally a brain difference that deeply affects our internal perception of identity and we can't be forced to change, and we would feel empty without a special interest and we need to feel connected to it on a deeper level than just really liking something. We need to understand it on an emotional level, assimilate it into us, merge with it. These special interests are so intense as to often be completely immersive and Autistics hyperfocus on them. And while most pathologize this in an educational setting, considering these interests to be too "restricted" where the Autistic individual can't learn anything else, this is just proof that Autistics are different and that standard environments are profoundly lacking and cognitive performance tests and IQ tests can't be applied to us with accuracy. But Autistics can learn more broadly. We do it all the time, but it has to be through our special interests. Our special interests are a gateway, a window into learning so many other things that we can connect back to those main special interests. This requires time and patience in education, and most often a one on one learning experience. Though there are those who can't learn in education regardless. It's just not who they are and they don't take to it. There is no connection with the approach or the setting. Many of us like this are considered intellectually disabled, but that's only because our brains are meant to be specialized. Specialized for our special interests. There are so many skills that we have that are often completely overlooked by outsiders such as professionals just because they don't fit into boxes and standards and align with milestones. And yes, my interests are special to me, so special in fact that I am extremely defensive about them and to abuse me for them is to cut my very soul.

[eulalielatibule]

This autism awareness/acceptance month, we NEED to start calling out people who continuously use autism and being autistic as an insult. I am seeing it way too much online, especially TikTok, and it's disgusting that y'all hate us so much.

The terms "the tism," "acoustic," and others were started on TikTok because they censor people who used autism and autistic. But the kids on there got a hold of it and used it to start bullying others. So many people are saying "oh he's got a little bit of the tism" or "it's acoustic isn't it?" to make fun of someone they don't like.

Sometimes they don't even censor it and they outright say "are you autistic?" to just make fun of people. This shouldn't be happening and this shouldn't be acceptable. Do better, stop letting this happen. I'm not in TikTok anymore but I'm sure this is happening on other platforms too.

Make the world a more loving and accepting place and stop hating us, for real.

[timetofindtheacorn]

Autism Speaks™™ can fuck right off and shove their damn puzzle pieces up their asses. let autistic people speak for themselves

[spdrvyn]

happy trans visibility day and the start of autism acceptance month!!!

[arctic-hands]

IIRC "nothing about us without us" was supposed to mean "able-bodied/healthy people stop pretending we don't exist, include us in the conversation about how to improve the world, and especially listen to us when we tell you how inaccessible the world is now and in your plans for the future, and here's what we need to make sure everyone can participate in a better society."

But ableds have their own chronic issues, and it's called "incapable of pulling their heads out of their asses and realize there is more to the human experience than their own personal body" and so the various disabled communities have to become more and more radicalized just to make sure we're not killed by apathy/contempt at best and actual life-threatening malice more often than not.

I said it last night on that other post: abled leftists are just as eugenicists as capitalists and the right as a whole. You just don't care enough about disabled people to put us and our needs and especially our safety in consideration of the Revolution and the supposed Utopia that comes after, and we're actively terrified of you and incredibly pissed off as well

[359thautisticmetallegion]

I want to wish you all a happy Autism Acceptance Day. I have just learned that this observance has been made official, so on this particular Autism Acceptance Day we have much to celebrate.

We autistics need to fight against ableism. Down with Autism Speaks. Down with the Judge Rotenberg Center. Down with Andrew Wakefield. Down with every government that excludes autistics from immigration. Down with companies such as Toys R Us, Panera Bread, and Home Depot, and down with Donald Trump as well, for supporting Autism Speaks. Down with all of the bigots.

For legal reasons I want to clarify that this is not a call to violence.

[real-total-drama-takes]

I love them both but millie>priya

.

[lunathewafflelord]

I got this idea for a comic so I had to make it

Top panel starring my OC: So what are your sources showing evidence that vaccines cause autism?

Bottom panel starring the Autism Speaks logo: My source is that I made it the F@#& up

/

This meme just seemed fitting, this applies to literally every other “x causes autism” claim and other nonsense Autism Speaks and similar organizations have said and done. This is literally what the guy who “proved” vaccines cause autism did though, he falsified record to prove his point - which is illegal by the way.

[teachersource]

Temple Grandin was born on August 29, 1947. An American scientist, academic, and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior, and is also an autism spokesperson. Grandin is one of the first autistic people to document the insights she gained from her personal experience of autism. In 2010, Time 100—an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world—named her in the “Heroes” category. She was the subject of the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning biographical film Temple Grandin. Grandin has been an outspoken proponent of autism rights and neurodiversity.

[bumpytoad]

I can apply face paint. Detailed artistic face paint. I am an artist in general. Would this be considered a "splinter skill"? The term "splinter skill" is rightfully viewed as offensive by many disabled folks though.

My manual dexterity isn't the same as others. I don't necessarily create art using the tools in the supposed "right" way. Yet I still create art. I love to create art. It is extremely tedious and time-consuming for me, but it means everything to me to create it.

My manual dexterity was always something considered greatly concerning to others, when it came to, for instance, writing with pencils or cutting with scissors. Yet I still create art my own way, meticulously. I achieve neat and clean results. I've just learned to do it somewhat differently.

I am unable to open most things on my own, such as water bottles, as well as comb my own hair, tie my own shoes, dress myself, as well as accomplish most "activities of daily living" without a caregiver.

My legs have no strength when I find myself in certain positions. No strength at all. I can't bend without getting stuck and needing significant assistance. If I fall, I can't get up on my own.

I am a physically disabled artist. My balance is incredibly poor. I am a fall risk. I can't move quickly and I often need my hand held when I'm walking over certain terrain. Walking up and down stairs is extremely difficult.

I can't cook or drive or do most things that most folks can do. I need a lot of assistance to do most things in general that are far simpler for the majority than cooking and driving.

I am proud to be me in all respects. I love being who I am and I love being alive. Being disabled isn't all doom and gloom. I am Autistic and I have "co-morbidities" (as they are called) including physical disabilities. I am Multiply-disabled.

I never want Autism to be cured, if such a thing were possible. I never want to change who I am. I never want Autism to be eliminated from the gene pool. I love being Autistic. I am proud to be Autistic.

[purrsongs]

on colors and being different and not being enough for yourself

(please reblog instead of liking)

[rubakans-watermelons]

I don't usually do this BUT here's a video I found and I would like to see get more attention : https://youtube.com/shorts/cN4CtMohmG0?si=OxQQQ5d06ukT_m2j

[arthur-the-knight]

Aye, I recommend her channel to you all.

[vadlings]

Represention of Autistic Frustration in Laios Dungeon Meshi

Like many other autistic people, I related strongly to Laios Touden while reading Dungeon Meshi. This post isn't going to spend time disputing whether he displays autistic traits or not—while I could do that, I want to focus on why specifically his portrayal struck a chord with me in a way the writing of most other autistic-coded characters has not.

Disclaimer: as the above suggests, this post is strongly informed by my own experiences as an autistic person, as well as the experiences of my neurodivergent friends with whom I have spoken about this subject. I want to clarify that in no way am I asserting my personal experience to be some Universal Autistic Experience. This post is about why Laios' character feels distinct and significant to me in regard to autistic representation, and while I'm at it, I do feel that I have interesting things to say about autistic representation in media generally. This also got a bit long, so I'm sticking it under a read more. Spoilers for up to the end of chapter 88 below.

The thing that stands out most to me in regard to Laios' characterisation is the open anger he displays when someone points out his inability to read other people. This comes up prominently in his interactions with "Shuro" (Toshiro Nakamoto):

The frustration pictured above (Laios continuing to physically tussle with Toshiro, using crude language toward him) becomes even more notable when you remember that this is Laios, who, outside of these interactions, is not easily fazed and often exists as a lighthearted contrast to the rest of the cast. Then we get to Laios' nightmare.

In Falin's words: "Nightmares love emotional wounds. Wounds you hold in your heart. Things that give you stress, or things that were traumatic for you. They aggravate memories like that and cause the dreamer to have terrible dreams." (chapter 42, page 10.) (damn. i'm properly citing for this post and everything.)

Thus, Laios' nightmare establishes an important fact: even if he is unable to recognise social blunders while he's making them, he's at least subconsciously aware that other people operate on a different wavelength to him, and that he's an outsider in many of his social circles (both past and present). His dream-father's disparaging words stress the impact this has had upon his ability to live up to the expectations set out for him, and we also get a panel of kids who smirk at him (presumably former bullies to some degree). Toshiro's appearance only hammers home how much Laios is still both humiliated and angered by his misunderstanding of their relationship.

I've thought a lot about anger as concomitant to the autistic experience. When autistic representation portrays ostracization, it's generally from an angle of the autistic character being upset at how conforming to neurotypical norms doesn't come easily to them; as a result, they express a desire to 'get better' at meeting neurotypical standards, a desire to become more 'normal' (whether the writing implies this is a good thing or not). In contrast, not once does Laios go, "I need to perform better in my social interactions, and try to care less about monsters, because that's what other people find weird." His frustration is directed outward rather than inward, and as a result, it's the people around him who are framed as nonsensical.

The Winged Lion starts delineating Laios' anger, and Laios' reaction is to think to himself, "It can sense all my thoughts, huh?" (chapter 88, page 16.) This is the scene that really resonated with me. I'm not saying I have never felt the desire to conform to neurotypical norms that is borne from insecurity, but primarily, I know that I don't want to work toward becoming 'normal'—I don't want to change myself for people who follow rules I find nonsensical. It's the difference between, "Oh god, why can't I get it," and, "WHY CAN'T YOU GET IT?" (phrasing here courtesy of my friend Miles @dogwoodbite). And for me personally, Dungeon Meshi is the first time I've seen this frustration and the resultant voluntary isolation from other people portrayed in media so candidly. Laios' anger is not downplayed or written to be easily palatable, either.

The culmination of Laios' frustrations in this scene wherein we learn that Laios has fantasised about "a pack of monsters attacking a village" drives home just how alienated he really feels. I need not go into his wish to become a monster himself, redolent of how many autistic people identify/have identified with non-humans to some degree as a result of a percieved disconnect from society (when I was younger, I wanted to be a robot. I still kind of do.)

Obviously, wishing death upon other people is a weighty thing, but the unfiltered nature of this page is what deeply resonated with me. The Winged Lion is laying Laios' deepest and most transgressive desires bare, and they are desires that are a product of lifelong ostracization by others (whether intentional or unintentional). This is the brand of anger I'm familiar with, and that my neurodivergent friends express being familiar with, but that I haven't seen portrayed in writing so explicitly before—in fact, it surprised me because most well-meaning autistic representation I've experienced veers toward infantilisation in trying make the autistic character's struggles easy for neurotypicals to sympathise with.

Let's also not neglect the symbolism inherent to Laios' daydream. "A pack of monsters attacking a village". Functionally, monsters are Laios' special interest—he percieves everything first and foremost through his passion for monsters. His daydream of monsters attacking—killing—humans, is fundamentally a daydream of the world he understands (monsters) overthrowing the world that is so illogical to him, that has repeatedly shunned him (other people). I joked to my friends that it's an autistic power fantasy, and it actually sort of is. And in it, his identity is aligned with that of the monsters, while his anger manifests in a palpable dissociation from the rest of humanity. This is one manga page. It's brief. It's also very, very raw to me. I think about it often.

To conclude, I love Laios Dungeon Meshi. This portrayal of open frustration in an autistic character meant a lot to me, and I hope I've sufficiently outlined why. Also, feel free to recommend media with autistic representation in the notes if you've read this far—I would really like to see if there is more of this nature. Thank you for reading. I'm very tired and should probably sleep now.

[autistic-alexithymic-female]

Capitalism is poison; what makes me livid is that women—autistic and NT—are oppressed by capitalism.

Capitalism is male.

[realbeefman]

how is this show real